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Senator DeMint’s new book is a must have for your reading list

August 31, 2011 | By Lauren Hart

August 10, 2011, Arlington, VA—“Washington was different than two years before—smaller, shaken, and less confident. America was different too—bigger and more confident with millions of Americans discovering their power as citizens and voters,” said Senator Jim DeMint in his new book, The Great American Awakening, recently released.

DeMint’s new book explains the significant ideological shift in Washington between the 2008 elections and the resurgence of conservatives in the 2010 elections. He interestingly attributes this shift to a spiritual and political awakening among the grassroots aimed at replacing “the foul, old Washington air.”

Native of Greenville, South Carolina, Jim DeMint has served as a U.S. senator since 2004 and was elected chairman of the Senate Steering Committee in 2006. Recognized for consistently voting for reasonable tax and spending policies, DeMint is an acclaimed conservative leader and advocate for the grassroots movement.

Throughout his book, DeMint recounts instance after instance of personally questioning the established policies, politicians, and principles. “The Washington establishment is driving our nation toward bankruptcy,” DeMint said. He explains that the continual spending and borrowing of the government is steadily burying our country under a “mountain of debt.”

In Senator Marco Rubio’s forward to DeMint’s book, he agreed that “the Washington establishment [is] a powerful system of inertia that protects the status quo.”

DeMint did not know if his view represented hundreds or millions of Americans, but he resolved to speak for the concerned, disillusioned, and alarmed freedom-lovers. “We have nothing to apologize for. We believe in personal responsibility, capitalism and free markets, Judeo-Christian values and, importantly, limited Constitutional government.”

In a riveting and organized fashion, DeMint reveals the inner components of the Washington political structure and outlines the steps necessary to promulgate favorable change. He also harnesses the hope of “millions of Americans willing to stand and fight” at the grassroots level.

A lot of the energy and impact present in the 2010 election originated from Tea Party activists and “owners of small businesses, lawyers, and teachers—patriotic people afraid that Washington politicians were bankrupting America.” DeMint described the Tea Party movement as a picture of how freedom works.

In 2007 DeMint spoke at the Leadership Institute’s Wednesday Wake-Up Club Breakfast where more than a hundred students, donors, alumni, and staff were present. “I spoke about the importance of the upcoming election and explained why I was working to elect conservative senators in several races.”

He recounts in his book how a student reminded him to keep fighting the establishment and trust the power of principled people. “The students had a lot of questions, and many encouraged me to keep up the fight. But one student challenged me, ‘If you’re supporting conservative candidates against establishment Republicans, why haven’t you endorsed Rand Paul in Kentucky?’”

When describing his unconventional decision to endorse Rand Paul as a candidate, DeMint mentioned that his talk at the Leadership Institute encouraged and challenged him to rely on the freedom-fighters—the people.
“This book is more about the future than the past,” DeMint said. “It recounts how committed individuals can come together to change the course of our nation.”

DeMint writes with a fervent hope that this awakening will persist and generate a return to conservative principles in upcoming elections. “Some people believe this movement will fizzle and die. I believe it will continue to grow and I hope this book will inspire more Americans to join this great awakening.”

As DeMint draws on the hope of a continued great awakening originating in the grassroots, he relies on staff committed to the same principles and passion, some of whom LI has trained.

“As a United States senator, I come across the Leadership Institute’s graduates all the time…as key congressional staffers, as heads of conservative organizations, even as colleagues,” Senator DeMint said. “When I ran for U.S. Senate in 2004, a Leadership Institute graduate was my campaign manager and another organized students for me throughout South Carolina,” explained DeMint.

Senator DeMint’s current Senior Communications Advisor and Speechwriter Amanda Carpenter explained, “Without the Leadership Institute, I may have never gotten involved in the conservative movement…all the credit goes to the Leadership Institute. I can’t thank Morton Blackwell enough.”

Leadership Institute President Morton Blackwell endorses DeMint’s book: “Senator Jim DeMint’s new book, The Great American Awakening, is a must read for all conservatives striving to understand the significance of the newly active grassroots movement, in the 2010 election and going forward.”